I hope and pray that this message finds you well. Firstly, I thank you for your continued prayers and offerings as we seek God’s kingdom here on campus at Lincoln and in our neighborhood. We see the fruit of your prayers daily and even when we struggle, we know that it is your financial gifts that make much of what we do even possible, so thank you.
You’d probably like to know what we’ve been up to.
VBS this year was amazing. Overall, we had 86 individual kids show up over our five nights for a total attendance of 277. We had some new volunteers plug in as well! You can watch the video above to see some of the highlights; I and other leaders really felt the Spirit at work, and believe this summer was a turning point in community relationships, children’s souls, and God’s direction for our church. Please continue to pray for these kids, and for next year!
The above graphics sum up what we’ve been learning this summer. In lieu of our regular Gospel Community meetings, over June and July we had two groups walk through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University and a curriculum we have used multiple times in the past called Theology of the Gospel. Both of these classes pushed our family toward being Gospel Centered Believers and Generous Givers, two of our core aims for members at Soma.
Pastor Jon preached through the Psalms of Ascent (120-134), encouraging our family to apply these ancient texts to the problems we face and the call that God puts on our lives. Just last week, we finished up a series entitled “Woke Church,” calling us to justice, mercy, and faithfulness when dealing with issues of race and healing. As always, you can catch up with any of Pastor Jon’s sermons here.
Meet Alex Templeton. A 2018 graduate of Lincoln University and dear member of our family, Alex is serving for this academic year as Soma’s college ministry intern. He is leading a Bible study on campus, pushing our college students to pursue Christ, and leading out in ways that we have been praying to see! Here’s a little about Alex in his own words,
“Born and raised in Southern California. I grew up not knowing who God was. I didn’t hear about Jesus Christ until I was 19, but it wasn’t until I had read most of the Bible when I truly believed in Christ. By this time I was playing football and high jumping again, which brought me out to Lincoln University on an athletic scholarship, where I continued to play football and high jump. While out here I got connected with Soma Community Church. I quickly began volunteering in Soma’s Whiz Kids program and leading a men’s connection group. After graduating with a BS from LU, I decided to take a gap year and come back to Lincoln as a campus minister. I’m excited for this new venture and to be a part of what God is doing here at Lincoln.”
Alex needs your prayers and support! It has been incredible to see him and our college group really take ownership of what’s going on at Lincoln. One huge way you can pray for them is in dealing with a Bible-based cult that has been very aggressive on campus and in our city. They are meeting false doctrine and spiritual seduction of our student body head on, but need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak truth and fight back.
Please pray for our students and for Alex. He is also raising all of his own support to be here in Jefferson City for his year; if the Lord leads you to support him with a financial gift or commitment, visit https://somajc.org/give and choose the “Intern” tab when you give online.
The Lord is still using you, your prayers, and your financial gifts to advance his kingdom. We need you, and we are so grateful for you. This summer we have had more new visitors on Sunday mornings than ever before, and they are beginning to plug in and “stick.” WhizKids powered up this week, and our family will be volunteering at Moreau Heights’ annual carnival as a way to love the families in our neighborhood. Our Gospel Communities are digging into what moving from ignorance of real problems to truly dwelling in community looks like when it comes to race and other issues facing the church. Your gifts and prayers make all of these and more possible as we seek to reflect Jesus and share him with our campus and community. We are working on discipleship, training in what it means to give sacrificially of money and time, and what it looks like to truly be known.
We may be past our third year as a church plant, but God has chosen to still use your gifts as an essential part of what He is doing. Please pray about how He would have you continue to pray and give, and know that you are prayed for and loved.